//------------------------------// // Letters of Intent // Story: Disorder in the Court // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// On most weekends, the town of Ponyville would be rather peaceful. While the small town did have a reputation for being the epicenter of a lot of crazy incidents over the years, those kinds of things would oddly happen only during the weekdays. However, on a saturday or sunday, you would find that the town was calm and quiet. Instead of the residents running in fear, they would be running errands at the market, conversing with friends or just simply going on a walk to enjoy the day. The same could be said for the residents of a small cottage along the outskirts of Ponyville. While on most days, Fluttershy would either be tending to her animals or her responsibilities as a teacher at the School of Friendship, today was… well, a bit different. The weekends were a time where she would have a particular friend come over to visit for tea. As well as catching up to see how things had been. Though, when Fluttershy went to go check the mail, she couldn’t help but notice an ominous looking figure pass by the front gate. The pegasus couldn’t quite get a good look at who they were since their face was mostly concealed by a hood, and they disappeared shortly after she stepped outside. At first, she just thought they were wanting to visit Ponyville and didn’t think too much of it. Yet, when she collected the mail and came back inside, there was one envelope that stood out from the rest. Mainly, because it wasn’t addressed to her… but to the friend that was visiting her today. “Uh, Discord? I just brought in the mail and… well…” From the other side of the room, the friendly neighborhood draconequus named Discord gently set down the teacup he was holding onto a saucer that was sitting on a small pink cloud above the living room table. While he was there to partake in their usual ‘saturday socials’, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly his dear friend was trying to say. “Oh, let me guess! Bills? Letters from family? Jury duty summons? … Please don’t be the latter-” It was then that four simple words stopped him from finishing what he was going to say as Fluttershy held out an envelope with a wax seal on the back. Not a royal seal, but a different one entirely, “Actually… it’s for you.” Originally, Fluttershy had his curiosity. Now though, she had Discord’s attention. “For me, you say?” the spirit of chaos asked as he inspected the envelope, before snapping a finger as a tiny sword was created to function as a letter opener to cut it open, “If somepony wanted to go through the trouble of mailing me, wouldn’t it be simpler to put it in my mailbox?” “W-who’s it from?” “Well, my dear Fluttershy, that is what I’m about to find out!” He declared, before having the sword morph into a pair of reading glasses and put them over his eyes. To my former colleague and former villain, Discord, It has been a long time, my friend. It seems that you have been rather busy over the last few centuries with the amount of chaotic schemes you have conspired. You even turned over a new leaf! Something that doesn’t surprise me considering that chaos in itself is as unpredictable as you are. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that for the last few months, you not only went through the trouble of pretending to be me, but portray me in such a way that’s so appalling that I can’t be able to show my face in public again! I had been traveling the world for nearly a millennium after Gusty and I decided to bury the hatchet of our rivalry and now, your little stunt gave Equestria… Nay, the ENTIRETY OF HARMONIA, the impression that I went back on my word and that I was in the business of making ponies kneel before me in servitude!!! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get to this point, only for my reputation to be shredded to pieces the moment I step hoof back in Equestria after traveling abroad for Faust knows how long?! What makes this even worse is that you didn’t even ask me if I would be okay with something like this! You just went through with it without consent and still had fun with it anyways, YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!! This is not just a normal stunt from you, but a betrayal of trust, and I will not let you off the hook for this. Included in this letter is some more official documentation, but since I know that legal paperwork would bore you more than watching ice melt in real time, let me get to the point. I’m suing you for Identity Theft and Defamation of Character and the amount that I’m suing you for would be twice the amount of whatever the cost for damages was that the ‘taxpayers’ had to pay out of pocket for The Battle of the Bell. Especially since it was your idiocy that led to those three fools finding my bell in the first place. If you have just as weak of a spine as you were when Tirek stole your magic, then I’d suggest not fighting this one. However, if you do happen to have a backbone, I’ll look forward to the day that I’ll see you in the courtroom. It will be just like old times. With Regards, Grogar Von Aries III P.S. If you think I’m evil, you haven’t met my lawyers yet. They make me look like an Element Bearer. Much like the one that you have become close friends with. It was at this point when Fluttershy noticed that smoke was coming out of Discord’s ears and his face was the complete opposite of his relaxed self from a few moments ago. “Well, I’ll be darned. That’s… a bit of a pickle.” “Is… something wrong, Discord?” “Well, it seems that an old friend decided to get in touch with me out of the blue,” the draconequus told her, “However, they aren’t exactly thrilled with me. Side note, do you happen to know anypony who knows a thing or two about legal advice?” “W-what? Discord, what is this about-?” “Oh, nevermind, I’ll just go ask our newly appointed ruler princess. Be back in a jiffy!” Before Fluttershy could say anything else, Discord snapped his talons as a makeshift door manifested through chaos magic. Though, as he left, a piece of paper happened to drop on the floor and float over to the puzzled pegasus as the door closed and she was left alone with Angel Bunny. However, one look at the paper told Fluttershy how much trouble her chaotic friend was in. “O-Oh my!” When Twilight had taken over in place of Celestia and Luna, the alicorn thought that she had a general idea of what her day-to-day duties were supposed to be. Raise the sun in the morning, hold court, meet ambassadors and nobles on occasion, sign new legislation, make public appearances, lower the sun, raise the moon, rinse and repeat. Even though everyday didn’t quite exactly go like this, the diarch of friendship knew that as long as she didn’t think too much about it, everything was going to turn out fine. Of course, there are also times where she had to expect the unexpected. So, when everypony in the castle looked like they were in suspended animation and some of the paperwork she was reviewing was floating on a cloud of cotton candy, only one possibility came to mind. “Discord, where are you?” “Wow, straight to the point I see,” the spirit of chaos’s voice echoed behind one of the pillars in the hall of elements as he walked on out, dressed in what looked like a trench coat and a matching fedora, “You know, back in the day, it would take a bit longer for you to catch on to things like this. Now, you just read me like I’m an open book… and not the good kind of books either.” “Well, I can think of only one creature who would not only do something like this, but also do it while I’m in the middle of something important,” Twilight sighed, before she rose up from her throne and teleported over to where Discord was standing, “So, why exactly do you want to see me?” “Well, that’s the thing,” Discord said, taking off the coat he wore and having it land on a coat rack that he manifested through chaos, “I’m here to ask for some advice.” That had the diarch of friendship blink for a moment, before she raised an eyebrow, “You know, if this has to do with you and Fluttershy, let it be known that Cadance is more qualified on romantic matters than I am-” “No, no, no! Not that kind of advice,” he corrected himself, “I mean, legal advice.” “… What did you do this time?” “Nothing! I’ve been true to my word with no more funny business,” Discord insisted, before pulling out the letter he had received only a few minutes ago. “However… You remember my ‘curtain call’, right? Like everything after the battle of the bell and what I told you?” “You mean when you were impersonating Grogar?” “Yes that,” the draconequus nodded his head, before he handed the letter to Twilight for her to read, “Well, as it turns out, a certain someone wasn’t a fan of it… and they want revenge in court.” It took Twilight about two minutes to read through the whole letter from top to bottom and when she was finished, the princess looked back at Discord with some manner of restraint. “So, let me see if I understand this correctly. You and Grogar… used to be friends?” “Eh, almost… We tolerated each other, schemed on occasion, but nothing along the lines of being ‘friends’. I knew that there were times where being the bad guy bored him, but I didn’t think he would go as far as to bury the hatchet with his old rival. Not only that, but anytime I tried to keep in contact with him, any form of correspondence was brought back with ‘return to sender’ on it. Some of them even hit me in the face when I was still a stone statue.” “And now that he’s back from travel… he thinks you ruined his reputation?” “Somehow yes,” the draconequus replied, “Which is odd because all I did was take how he was portrayed in the story of Gusty the Great and follow it to the letter. I did not know about how he acted outside of this since he’s only mentioned in that single story and he refused to even send me a letter. Now, the only time he does reach out is with this. And I have no idea what to do.” That last statement threw the princess into a bit of a loop as Twilight raised an eyebrow, “No idea-? Discord… do you have any idea how the court system works?” The draconequus shrugged his shoulders, “Not really. I mean, Fluttershy did have me fill out the paperwork for the whole thing involving ‘jury duty’, but I’ve never been called once. That and I’m pretty sure this court has nothing to do with food.” His words didn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence as the alicorn let out a small breath, “Okay, listen. I don’t think I can be able to explain everything to you without you losing focus, so-” “Princess, with all due respect, I’m not letting this one go,” Discord interjected, “I’m not letting somepony who just happened to show up after being absent for Faust knows how long try to bring me down now that I have my life back on track. I plan to fight this.” “Discord… if I have to be honest with you, it’s not that simple,” Twilight explained, “You would need a lot of things in order to ‘fight’ this. Hay, I don’t think there would be anypony in their right mind that would even consider defending you-” However, when the princess looked back at Discord, all she could see was something of a wicked smile on his face. Like a match had struck in his mind and an idea was beginning to burn brightly. A thought that really did not settle well with Twilight as she could only watch. “My dear Twilight, if my colleague is asking for a fight… then I shall give it to him.” When Grogar had sent his intention to sue to the draconequus that was responsible for his current predicaments, the ram thought that would be the end of it. That Discord would either be too distracted with his new life or care little to even challenge it. Much to his surprise, he actually got a response back. To my former friend in villainy, Grogar, You disappoint me. You disappoint me more than chocolate bars with raisins tucked inside. You disappoint me more than the parents of every working adult who is fine with just receiving participation awards in life. To think that I have not heard a single word of how you had been over the years no matter how many times I’ve tried to reach out to you, and yet the one time you do reach out, you want to dismantle all the good I have done just because of sheer pettiness? Well, I got a few words just for you. Bring it on, you son of a witch! I look forward to the day we finally get to see each other again. It will be a joyous reunion. Warm Regards Discord Isfet Apophis